Shia LaBeouf was definitely not involved with this piece of performance art.

Photographers were livid on Thursday night when they showed up to the Tribeca Film Festival premiere of the movie “Flames” expecting to see James Franco, Shia LaBeouf and Greta Gerwig on the red carpet, but instead got a bunch of unknown cast members wearing masks of the famous faces.

“We could have been covering other films by people who actually showed up. Instead we get punked by these jerks,” one entertainment photographer fumed, adding that shutterbugs often get paid based on sales of photos taken at these types of events.

A source added that the stunt dreamed up by the film’s co-director Zefrey Throwell was an “ill-formed idea on their part that didn’t really work. It just pissed people off.”

We’re told that publicists for both the film and the festival were left out of the loop and believed the A-list celebrities would be in attendance, even though they had no connection with the movie.

The film is actually the story of co-directors Throwell and Josephine Decker and their relationship over the span of five years. It is a combination of reality and scripted entertainment.

Throwell explained his stunt by telling Page Six, “In a movie that blurs the boundaries between what is true and scripted, I had the cast members dress up as some of their favorite celebrities and strut their stuff. In an era where alternative facts rule, then alternative stars are the future of cinema.”

He added, “I want to thank all the members of the media for continuing the battle for truth in this murky age and apologize if there were any hurt feelings because of missed star connections.”